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Kathryn Stripling Byer
Kathryn Stripling "Kay" Byer (born 1944) is an American poet and teacher. She was named as the 5th poet laureate of North Carolina, the first woman to hold the position. Life Youth and education Kathryn Stripling was born in Camilla, Georgia, to Bernice (Campbell) and farmer C.M. Stripling. Byer went on to graduate with a bachelors in English from Macon, Georgia's Wesleyan College and then received her M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. There she studied under Allen Tate, Fred Chappell, and Robert W. Watson. During this time at UNC-G, Byer decided to move to the mountains of North Carolina. Career After receiving her M.F.A., Byer became poet-in-residence at Western Carolina University, 1988–98, as well as UNC-G in 1995 and Lenoir-Rhyne College in 1999. She has published six full collections of poetry as well as some chapbooks. Her most recent collection is Descent published in 2012 by Louisiana State University Press. Some of Byer's poetry have appeared in Arts Journal, The Carolina Quarterly, The Georgia Review, The Hudson Review, The Iowa Review, Nimrod, Poetry, and The Southern Review. As part of her outreach program during her term as poet laureate, Byer maintained "My Laureate's Lasso", a blog that focused on North Carolina poets and poetry. She was also the judge for the North Carolina Poetry Society's Poet Laureate Award. Private life Byer is married to Western Carolina University professor Jim Byer. They have one daughter, and live in Cullowhee, North Carolina. Writing Her work often deals with lives and hardships of western North Carolina mountain inhabitants, especially women, in earlier generations. Recognition In 2005, North Carolina Governor Mike Easley appointed Byer to be the 5th North Carolina Poet Laureate. She was the first woman to hold the position. Awards and honors * 1992 – Lamont Poetry Selection of the Academy of American Poets * 1998 – Roanoke-Chowan Award for Poetry * 2001 – Emory and Henry College's Kathryn Stripling Byer Literary Festival * 2001 – North Carolina Award in Literature * 2003 – SIBA Book Award in Poetry for Catching Light * 2005–2009 – North Carolina Poet Laureate * 2012 – inducted into the North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame * 2013 – SIBA Book Award in Poetry for Descent Publications Poetry *''Search Party: Poem''. Brooklyn, NY: Amicae Press, 1979. *''Alma: Poems''. Phoenix Press, 1983. * The Girl in the Midst of the Harvest. Lubbock, TX: Texas Tech Press, 1986; Winston-Salem, NC: Press 53, 2013. *''Kitchen Sink''. New Market, TN: Mill Springs Press, 1987. * Wildwood Flower: Poems. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1992. * Black Shawl: Poems. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 1998. *''Evelyn: Poems and photographs'' (with photos by Louanne K. Watley). Raleigh, NC: TypEsthetics, 1999. * Catching Light: Poems. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2002. * Wake (chapbook). Sylva, NC: Spring Street Editions, 2003). *''Piece of Cake''. Raleigh?, NC: Carolina Arts Council?, 2005. * Coming to Rest: Poems. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2006. * Southern Fictions (sonnet chapbook). Durham, NC: Jacar Press, 2011. * Descent: Poems. Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2012. Edited *''Gatherings: A collection of North Carolina poetry'' (edited with Fred Chappell). Sylva, NC: Spring Street Editions, 2001. * The Movable Nest: A mother/daughter companion (edited with Marilyn Kallet). Kansas City, MO: Helicon Nine Editions, 2007. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Kathryn Stripling Byer, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 27, 2015. Essays Some of Byer's most notable essays include: * "Turning the Windlass at the Well: Fred Chappell's Early Poetry" in Dream Garden: The Poetic Vision of Fred Chappell (1997) * "Deep Water" in Bloodroot: Reflections on Place by Appalachian Women Writers (1998) See also * List of U.S. poets References External links ;Poems *"Easter Afternoon" at Gwarlingo *Kathryn Stripling Byer 4 poems in the Cortland Review *Kathryn Stripling Byer proile & 5 poems at the Academy of American Poets *Kathryn Stripling Byer at the Poetry Foundation *Poems ;Audio / video *Kathryn Stripling Byer at YouTube ;About *Kathryn Stripling Byer (b.1944) in the New Georgia Encyclopedia *Kathryn Stripling Byer at North Carolina Literary Trails * Kathryn Stripling Byer Official website * Here Where I Am Blog *[http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/articles/arts-culture/kathryn-stripling-byer-b-1944 Kathryn Stripling Byer's Descent] reviewed at StorySouth Category:Poets Laureate of North Carolina Category:Poets from North Carolina Category:1944 births Category:Living people Category:People from Camilla, Georgia Category:People from Jackson County, North Carolina Category:University of North Carolina at Greensboro alumni Category:Wesleyan College alumni Category:Western Carolina University faculty Category:American women poets Category:20th-century poets Category:20th-century women writers Category:21st-century poets Category:21st-century women writers Category:American poets Category:American women writers Category:English-language poets Category:Poets Category:Women poets